Courage and Indifference in the Face of Genocide

"The infiltrators demanded the girls separate into their ethnic groupings - Hutus on one side, Tutsis on the other. John wrote, 'They were trying to finish the work of the genocide and kill off all the Tutsis. But these girls refused to separate. They had borne the pain of war in their hearts. They had lost too many family members. So they decided to stand together as fellow Rwandans and not let their captors identify themselves either as Hutu or Tutsi.' With that, John said, the rebels randomly opened fire, killing seventeen girls and one white missionary who worked at the school. Several were wounded. 'We are not despaired by evil,' John wrote letter. 'These girls made a stand. No one would expect young girls to face death and state a real challenge to their killers. They have told the country and the world that Rwanda is living in a new day. We will not be separated anymore. We are a united people. It is time to move forward. I am telling you, we shall never forget these brave girls.' .....History would later record that President Clinton did not convene a single meeting of his senior foreign policy advisers to discuss U.S. options for Rwanda. - Thaddeus Barnum & John Ruchyana, Never Silent, pg 50